European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, currently on a two-day trip to Egypt, has held talks in Cairo with President Mohammed Morsi and Foreign Minister Mohammed Amr, it was announced on Wednesday.
Ashton arrived in the Egyptian capital on Tuesday as part of her wider trip to the Middle East covering Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon, Israel and Palestine. She will leave Egypt later on Wednesday for Israel and from there to the West Bank on Thursday.
In a statement issued after her talks with Egyptian leaders, Ashton said her discussions with them were "interesting and important."
Ashton said she and her Egyptian counterpart Mohammed Amr reiterated their support for an ongoing efforts aimed at convincing the Syrian government and rebels to attend an international conference jointly planned by Russia and the United States to find a political solution to the conflict.
"I agree absolutely with the Minister that we are supporting what has become known as Geneva II, the process of helping to find a political solution for Syria, which, in the end, is a solution that is going to be necessary if we are going to end the bloodshed, stop the fighting and bring peace," she said.
Regarding the current row between Egypt and Ethiopia over the construction of a dam on the Blue Nile River, Ashton said: "We are following closely the situation. I was delighted that the Minister had good discussions with Ethiopia, and will continue to work to ensure that there is a good solution."
Cairo was taken by surprise after Ethiopia began diverting the Blue Nile water last month to facilitate construction of the Grand Renaissance Dam near the Sudanese border. Cairo had strongly objected to the dam project, triggering a diplomatic row with Ethiopia.
On EU's continued support for Egypt, Ashton noted that the European bloc has been funding programs and projects in the North African nation, with a particular emphasis on supporting the "poorest people" in Egyptian population.
"We've also tried to encourage investment from industry, which is going to be so vital, and we try to encourage the growth of small and medium size businesses here, which is the backbone of any economy. Some of the money is of course linked to the IMF and linked to the way in which things are going to move forward," she said.
"We want to see this country moving forward to see the kind of developments that are going to be so necessary and to back it with our resources," Ashton said.
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